DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings are only three games into the season, but there was an unmistakable sense of urgency in their new captain's voice following Tuesday's 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars.

“It’s early, but we know it’s a shortened season,'' Henrik Zetterberg said. “We have to win games. We can’t win one and lose two. If we keep doing that, it won’t be fun here.''

Injuries are piling up, and they're having trouble scoring. With 15 of their first 24 games at home during this 48-game season, the Red Wings need to bank points early.

“When you're 1-2, it's a way different thing than when you start 2-1,'' coach Mike Babcock said after Tuesday's game. “Tough one for us. We'll take a day off (Wednesday), but the sun's going to come up tomorrow.

“I understood coming into this game what it might be like, so we'll regroup, we'll get some bodies back for Friday and we'll get at it.''

“We can’t get frustrated,'' goalie Jimmy Howard said. “We have to go out there and keep working our hardest. It’s not because of (not) trying. We’re putting the puck on net, doing some good things, but the puck just isn’t going into the net right now for us. Six posts in the last two games, we’re not getting much puck luck right now.''

Zetterberg and Babcock both offered words of encouragement following the home-opener.

“We just have to keep working hard and we’ll get rewarded for it,'' Zetterberg said.

Said Babcock: “We're disappointed for our fans that we weren't able to get things looked after. We're a team in flux right now. But, we're going to be better. We'll be just fine.''